Going to The Pictures Tonight? Will it Be 'Thor: The Dark World'? [Trailer]

It should be a big weekend for 'Thor,' but will you be talking about 'The Dark World' on the bus home?

Finally, Thor: The Dark World hits U.S cinemas tonight after months of build up, trailers, pictures and reviews. Without much competition, the film is expected to clean up this weekend’s box office with aplomb, but will you be handing over your hard-earned cash for Marvel’s latest blockbuster?

Marvel are certainly going through a purple patch; they built upon the success of 2012’s The Avengers – the third highest grossing movie of all time – with more solid efforts, like this year’s The Wolverine. And while they haven’t hit the heights of Joss Whedon’s ensemble masterpiece, things are rumbling along nicely.

Thor: The Dark World finds itself in a strange place with the reviewers though. Some have praised it as being one of Marvel’s best ever cinematic re-imaginings, while other’s have labelled it dumb and unoriginal. If you’re a Marvel fan, your mind is already made up. In fact, you’re not even reading this article, you’re queuing up for tickets now yielding a big hammer that set you back $139.00 – and that was half price because your buddy works at a comic book store.

But what if you’re one of the millions of Marvel newcomers, intrigued by the shiny lights, explosions and one-liners? Comic book adaptations – the likes of The Dark Knight and Iron Man – have proved to be the most successful action films, replacing the likes of Die Hard and Mission Impossible as the go-to option for all-out blockbuster thrills.

It’s you that Marvel are trying to entice alongside their core fan base, which is a tricky paradox to balance. On the one hand, sensitivity and fidelity to the subject matter is important, as you know eagle-eyed comic-book enthusiasts will spot an erroneous character trait from a grainy trailer still, but enforcing a marketable film amongst a mainstream audience is imperative to the future of the genre.

Fortunately, it seems as though Thor: The Dark World has something for both demographics. It may have divided critics, but that hasn’t stopped it accumulating a ‘certified fresh’ rating with 70% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Our very own Rich Cline saw Thor, and thought it worked pretty well, saying “the sparky characters and wildly cataclysmic approach are hugely entertaining,” in his review. “As is the case with most good superhero sequels, The Dark World escapes the oppressive duty of franchise building, finally getting to play in the world its origin-story predecessor established,” said the A.V Club in theirs.

Bottom line, check it out this weekend and make up your own mind. We reckon it's a grower.